D2D 101: An introduction to direct-to-device
D2D connectivity commonly refers to the use of standards-based handheld devices, such as smartphones, to operate directly with satellites. This contrasts with traditional satellite services, which require terminals and terrestrial networks to deliver connectivity to the end user.

While many feel that D2D is a replacement for traditional satellite, it is more of a complementary service. D2D connectivity cannot offer the same throughput and bandwidth as a traditional satellite service. However, it can deliver connectivity and access to remote locations and areas of the globe even when the necessary terrestrial hardware is unavailable. All the end user would require is a compatible smartphone or other mobile device.

The D2D service being built by Lynk will accomplish this using a constellation of satellites located in low Earth orbit (LEO), where strong signals generated very close to Earth will deliver connectivity directly to end-user devices. The O3b mPOWER, operated by SES, will enable necessary space data relay capabilities that effectively backhaul data from the Lynk LEO satellites at very high speeds with very low latency, allowing them to significantly reduce the ground segment required to support their D2D services.

Together, the Lynk and SES constellations will enable government users and military personnel to have end-user devices that simply work, even without a satellite terminal. That is a powerful capability with nearly limitless use cases for the government and military.

Immediate comms when and where they’re needed
In the aftermath of major natural disasters, those tasked with search and rescue missions and responding to emergencies often find themselves without cell service or any terrestrial forms of connectivity. That’s because the same natural disaster that impacted their region invariably destroyed the network infrastructure that powers cellular and terrestrial networks.

Communication and situational awareness capabilities are essential for an effective and collaborative response. They’re necessary to ensure those conducting search and rescue operations don’t wind up needing to be found and rescued, themselves. They’re essential to get alerts about danger, requests for assistance, and other mission-critical communications. But without cellular and terrestrial networks, these essential capabilities are often unavailable.

Historically, satellite providers have deployed Cell on Wheels (COWs) or Cell on Light Trucks (COLTs) to affected areas. These solutions effectively deliver the terrestrial equipment necessary to establish a satellite-enabled Wi-Fi or 5G network that first responders can use for basic communications and situational awareness. However, these solutions aren’t always in place when disaster strikes.

With D2D capabilities, first responders – from law enforcement personnel to wildland firefighters – could have immediate access to essential connectivity, even before COLTs and COWs are deployed to a region. This would immediately make mission-critical communications and situational awareness capabilities available following a natural disaster, putting first responders in a far better position to locate, rescue, and assist those in need.

This same ability to immediately access mission-critical communications, even without satellite terminals or ground infrastructure, can be leveraged for a variety of civilian government use cases. Government employees dispatched to remote locations could benefit from the ubiquitous communications delivered by D2D.

Military operations are often conducted in remote, off-grid locations where terrestrial infrastructure is unavailable. However, concerns about data and signal security could limit the use of commercial D2D solutions for combat applications. However, there is an opportunity to leverage D2D connectivity for non-combat missions and operations.

The post SES and Lynk Global Partner to Enable Game-Changing D2D Capabilities for the Government appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

The host satellite, SES-14, moved to its final destination in Geostationary orbit (GEO) in October of that year, where it became operational, sending important imagery of the Earth’s upper atmosphere to researchers at NASA and the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) courtesy of the GOLD payload.

In the six year’s that the GOLD mission has been operational, it has witnessed impressive geomagnetic storms caused by solar storms, and sent back imagery to Earth that was previously unobtainable for researchers. This has led to multiple published studies and the potential for better prediction of space weather, which can impact satellites and other systems on Earth.

To learn more about the GOLD mission and what it has accomplished in its first six years in operation, we sat down with Dr. Richard Eastes, a Research Scientist at LASP, and one of the driving forces behind the GOLD mission.

Government Satellite Report (GSR): What is the NASA GOLD mission? Why is it important?

Dr. Richard Eastes: The GOLD mission is a NASA mission of opportunity. GOLD stands for Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk. The limb is just the horizon. The disk is the view of the Earth that you get when viewing it from GEO. I would assume your readers have all seen NOAA satellite images from GEO, that’s the disk.

The existing views that we get of the disk essentially cover one hemisphere. More accurately, they probably cover about a third of the disk. Including the limb – the horizon – as well, about half of the Earth is covered by GOLD’s observations.

For this particular mission, we’re looking at the upper atmosphere, above 75 miles or 120 km. Traditionally, we have studied these areas and the effects of space weather using imagery from satellites in low earth orbit (LEO). But that’s a very restricted view that limits how often you can image any one particular area or anomaly.

If we identify a point of interest and image it from LEO, it could take upwards of 12 to 24 hours until we can image it again. Atmospheric changes can happen quickly, in only an hour. For us to understand what is happening and see any changes as they occur, we need the ability to take a sequence of images. This allows us to track changes more effectively.

We’ve studied the upper atmosphere’s climate extensively. But when we try to go beyond the climatology, that’s the seasonal changes, there’s difficulty in understanding the short-term changes. That’s especially important for space weather, and that’s the type of data you need to really make progress beyond the climatology we have now.

GSR: How does GOLD get that information? What is the payload comprised of, and what does it do?

Dr. Richard Eastes: The GOLD mission essentially involves launching an instrument into orbit. That instrument includes two cameras that are capable of what we would call spectral imaging. That means we can separate the different wavelengths of light in the images, and we can look at different emissions, or light, from oxygen and nitrogen in the upper atmosphere.

With the GOLD instrument, we can see where light from the Earth’s atmosphere is coming from and how that light is stimulated by the short wavelength radiation in the Sun, and also by the aurora.

These types of emissions are what we’re looking at. We’re looking at that light and those emissions to help us understand how the upper atmosphere is changing. So, by looking at the different colors – essentially our wavelengths of light – we can understand what the composition of the atmosphere is and how that’s changing.

In comparison to previous missions, GOLD is unique in its ability to image the disk and see the temperature. By combining the data coming from GOLD, we can get a much better idea of what is occurring in the upper atmosphere.

Since the GOLD instrument is in GEO, we can continue to look at the same locations and see how these measurements and data change over time. We can image rapidly, in less than half an hour, and see those changes in real time versus having to come back the next day. That’s massively important for gaining a better understanding of space weather and its impact on our Earth.

“The more we observe with missions like GOLD, the more we can build models that enable us to predict the frequency and severity of solar storms and geomagnetic storm events…these models will enable us to identify when a geomagnetic storm is coming, and how serious it will be, so we can prepare accordingly.” – Dr. Eastes

For example, there was a massive geomagnetic storm this past May. That was an incredible opportunity for GOLD to shine, and for its findings to stand out. We were able to sit there and watch how things change in the space environment, or how the space weather changed as it was happening. That’s something we haven’t been able to do before for the upper atmosphere.

GSR: How was the NASA GOLD payload placed in orbit? Did NASA launch its own purpose-built satellite for the GOLD mission?

Dr. Richard Eastes: I mentioned that GOLD is a mission of opportunity for NASA. That effectively means that the instrument is being flown on a satellite that serves another primary purpose. In the past, that usually meant the satellite is being flown for other scientific missions and purposes. In fact, missions of opportunity usually have some connection to the other scientific missions of that satellite.

However, GOLD is somewhat different in that it’s being flown as a hosted payload onboard a commercial communication satellite operated by SES.

GSR: Why was a hosted payload chosen for this mission?

Dr. Richard Eastes: Ultimately, pursuing GOLD as a hosted payload made financial sense. It was significantly less expensive to launch GOLD as a hosted payload than it would have been to launch it into orbit ourselves. Even launching satellites into LEO is expensive, and GEO can cost three or four times what a LEO launch can cost, so it would not have been financially viable to launch GOLD if we had to launch it ourselves.

Working with SES on GOLD has been an excellent experience. They have decades of experience flying satellites in GEO, and their satellites are highly reliable. Their knowledge of operating satellites enables us to simply give them a set of commands, which they upload to the spacecraft, and we can be confident that everything is done correctly. They then reliably deliver all data from GOLD to us at LASP.

I think the science community is impressed with what we’ve what we’ve been able to do, and how much we’ve been able to do by working with a commercial company and launching a hosted payload.

GSR: Was the process of launching a hosted payload difficult or challenging in any way?

Dr. Richard Eastes: The relationship wasn’t always without its challenges. There were certainly speedbumps and roadblocks that needed to be navigated – especially when it came to schedule. Candidly, commercial companies are used to operating much more quickly than science missions.

Thankfully, SES was able to get us involved very early in the process. This gave us an excellent picture of what was happening. They also took the time to meet with us and discuss the details. They brought in the people that could answer our important questions – including questions about interfaces and ensuring that our payload would interoperate with the satellite.

In fact, when we told them about challenges that we were working through with the payload, they often would give us suggestions and provide even better solutions than our team could identify. One example involved the power supply. There was some discussion about how we could adapt to the voltage of a commercial satellite. SES simply offered to provide us with the 28 volts that were needed to power the payload, and solved the problem for us.

Even during integration, we had someone there with the spacecraft vendor fulltime to help with monitoring the spacecraft and monitoring our instrument. If the vendor needed to move the payload they wanted to ensure t it wasn’t mistakenly  damaged so they had someone from our team ensure their activities wouldn’t cause a problem for us.

GSR: How long has the GOLD payload been delivering data to NASA and its mission partners?

Dr. Richard Eastes: Following launch, it takes a while for the satellite to get to GEO and begin operating. So, GOLD came online about six years ago this month (October of 2018). That’s when we started making our first observations.

At that time, the sun was going through what we refer to as solar minimum. The sun goes through an 11-year cycle, and it was solar minimum when GOLD came online. We’re about at a solar maximum now. So, we’re really halfway through one solar cycle at this point.

We’ve been delivering data that entire time. Throughout these six years, we have been making daily observations – multiple scans on the day side and multiple scans on the night side of each day.

GSR: There were recently two studies published based on observations from the GOLD mission. The first looked at changes to the ionosphere due to a massive geomagnetic storm. What causes storms like this? What impact did this storm have, and why was it newsworthy or significant?

Dr. Richard Eastes: The sun sends out clouds of plasma that we call coronal mass ejections. And when one of those hits the earth, it can generate and deposit a lot of power in the  Earth’s upper atmosphere. That power gets transmitted into particles that start flowing, which generates currents and magnetic fields.

While this disturbs the Earth’s magnetic field it also produces the aurora, which was one of the results in this most recent May storm. People saw the aurora really far south, potentially as far south as Florida. I even heard some reports that it was seen as far south as Puerto Rico. Typically, you must go up north to places like Iceland to see it. This was a very rare occasion where people much further south could simply walk out in their backyard and see the aurora.

But these changes don’t just cause the aurora. They also can interrupt HF communications that are used for numerous applications, including airplane communications. It can also interfere with GPS systems. I heard reports that during the May storm, there were numerous farmers in the Midwest who rely on GPS for precision agriculture to ensure chemical and seed distribution is done properly that couldn’t plant their crops during the storm.

There are so many systems that rely on GPS today. All of these systems – even automated construction equipment that is navigated by GPS – experienced outages and other disturbances as a result of this May storm.

GSR: In the second study, GOLD identified how a wave of plasma from the sun impacted the Earth. What role did GOLD play in identifying this? What impact did this wave of plasma have?

Dr. Richard Eastes: We don’t really see the plasma directly from the sun. What we see is the effects of that plasma when it reaches Earth. During the May event, we began our observations on the night side and then continued into the day side. We saw some things that we’ve never seen before.

We were able to get a picture of the neutral atmosphere and the ionosphere. We learned about the temperatures in the atmosphere and how that varies. We witnessed electric fields causing some of the nightside atmosphere to move at rapid speeds – as high as 400 meters per second – towards the poles.

It’s important to identify these changes because changes in the upper atmosphere have widely distributed impacts. While Earth’s weather is more localized – a storm in the Atlantic Ocean might have no bearing or impact on the Pacific Ocean – space weather changes impact the entire planet.

GOLD was essential in identifying these changes because of its ability to take images of an area at 15-minute intervals. When we were relying on LEO satellites for observation of the upper atmosphere, we could only generate an image every 12 to 24 hours. A lot can change in that time, and you lose the ability to see it changing and identify what’s happening and why.

Because of GOLD, we were able to sit there and watch things develop and see how the upper atmosphere changed.

GSR: Why are these new reports and findings important for NASA? Will they enable us to better predict things that could impact daily life on Earth? Are there impacts of these events that could be felt by civilians?

Dr. Richard Eastes: The May geomagnetic storm event was significant and impactful. But it wasn’t the most significant storm that our Earth has experienced. Back in 1859, the Earth experienced the Carrington Event, the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history. It was 10 times the size of the May event.

The Carrington Event impacted the Internet of the day – the telegraph system. In fact, I even heard stories of telegraph stations catching fire as a result. Imagine what a solar storm like that could do to our modern, technology-reliant society.

We learned from the Carrington Event. We were able to more accurately predict the May solar storm event, and we were able to prepare for it. We were prepared enough that it didn’t cause a significant number of serious problems.

It’s important that we see the effects, how things are changing, and how the Earth’s upper atmosphere is responding, because that’s where a lot of the currents are flowing. Seeing what happens in the upper atmosphere in advance of an event like this, and during an event like this, allows us to more accurately predict future events. We’ll identify the precursors and be able to prepare for an event. We’ll also be able to more accurately predict the severity of an event.

The more we observe with missions like GOLD, the more we can build models that enable us to predict the frequency and severity of solar storms and geomagnetic storm events. Much like how predicting a hurricane and its path enables us to evacuate and prepare an area, these models will enable us to identify when a geomagnetic storm is coming, and how serious it will be, so we can prepare accordingly.

Feature image: Bands of colorful airglow are visible above the limb of the Earth in this artist’s depiction of GOLD on the SES-14 satellite. (Courtesy NASA GSFC)

The post NASA’s GOLD Mission – How a Hosted Payload is Increasing our Understanding of Earth’s Upper Atmosphere appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

These organizations and individuals in geographically isolated and remote areas of Alaska have long lived on the other side of a digital divide – unable to experience and benefit from the same high-speed broadband connectivity and modern digital services that many take for granted in the contiguous United States. The addition of OneWeb’s satellite connectivity from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) has the potential to bridge that divide and bring low latency connectivity to many of the rural and remote locations that have struggled with limited or no connectivity in the past. According to SES Space & Defense’s President & CEO, Dave Fields, this new collaboration will, “…provide our customers with secure and reliable connectivity, which is crucial in Alaska’s remote and unforgiving environments.”

To learn more about this revolutionary announcement, we sat down with Michael Martinez, a Program Manager at SES Space & Defense, responsible for delivering connectivity to Alaskans for over a decade.

Government Satellite Report (GSR): Why is connectivity such a challenge in Alaska?

Michael Martinez: There are two major challenges that make it difficult for providers to service some regions and areas of Alaska – remoteness and logistics. These areas are incredibly difficult in which to run fiber. There are rivers, mountains, and other geographic and topographic features that make the installation of fiber lines difficult. And that would be a challenge even with access to the same tools, equipment, and transportation available in the lower 48 states.

GSR: Prior to this announcement, what was SES Space & Defense delivering to the State of Alaska?

Michael Martinez: Depending on the location, we provided connectivity via satellite service utilizing geosynchronous orbit (GEO) satellites or delivered connectivity from a purpose-built microwave network we constructed to service these areas.

While satellites at GEO were incredible for applications that would request a download and then receive the data, these new applications require that data move back and forth quickly.” -Michael Martinez

This was an excellent solution for a very long time. GEO satellites deliver a wide number of communications services and capabilities to this region. However, technological advancements have made it necessary to provide a lower latency, higher-bandwidth solution for the civilian and government users in these regions.

GSR: What technologies are you referring to? What about these technologies require lower latency than what GEO satellites can provide?

Michael Martinez: Most of the traditional applications and data sent over satellite networks involved the data moving one way – it would be pushed to the satellite, and then back down to the recipient that needed the data. This worked fine with GEO satellites because the latency was only experienced in that one direction. But that’s not how modern applications work.

Today, we’re seeing the rise of cloud applications, artificial intelligence (AI) applications, and other advanced workloads and capabilities that I like to call “chatty.” These “chatty” applications require a large amount of data to move back and forth, and all those extra trips to and from the satellite drastically increase the impact of latency.

While satellites at GEO were incredible for applications that would request a download and then receive the data, these new applications require that data move back and forth quickly. And those repeated trips back and forth increase the effect of latency exponentially, which can cause disruption.

GSR: What is OneWeb bringing to this arrangement? What about SES Space & Defense? How do OneWeb’s solutions integrate with the SES network that exists already?

Michael Martinez: For years, we’ve been limited in the tools we could leverage to deliver lower latency connectivity to the very edge. We had terrestrial transport systems, when available, and any microwave or fiber networks that could effectively be run to the edge despite the logistical challenges.

With the addition of OneWeb’s satellite capabilities, we can place a terminal into an area with no coverage and almost immediately deliver connectivity with latency similar to a microwave network.” -Michael Martinez

Our agreement with OneWeb changes the game and gives us a new tool in our connectivity toolbox. OneWeb’s network of satellites in LEO breaks that chokehold. It allows us to deliver low latency satellite connectivity to practically anywhere it’s needed in the more rural and geographically isolated regions of Alaska.

With the addition of OneWeb’s satellite capabilities, we can place a terminal into an area with no coverage and almost immediately deliver connectivity with latency similar to a microwave network.

That’s what OneWeb is delivering as part of this partnership. But SES Space & Defense is also bringing incredibly important capabilities to these regions, as well.

Considering that this connectivity is being leveraged by schools, health clinics, government offices, and other important customers, it must work when needed. SES has built a system or network with redundancy in its WAN transport, enabling connectivity even if there is an interruption.

This is important for our customers. Healthcare organizations, state and local government agencies, and educational institutions simply cannot have degradation in their connectivity when there is an outage. The redundancy that SES has built into the networks that serve these areas ensures that data is transported all the time – even when one mode of transport is degraded or denied.

GSR: What new services or capabilities will be enabled by this announcement? What new organizations or offices will get access to communications?

Michael Martinez: Every existing SES Space & Defense customer in Alaska will soon be able to acquire low-latency connectivity at a reasonable price. That’s the single most important capability that we’re delivering through this partnership with OneWeb.

In 2023, operating in an educational or healthcare environment is difficult without reliable connectivity. That’s what we’re delivering.” -Michael Martinez

What will that allow them to do? The options are almost limitless.

Students can soon conduct distance learning classes or do state-mandated testing online. Schools can offer students new educational opportunities by bringing in specialized teachers via video. Students will even get to see and experience amazing things through virtual field trips.

On the healthcare side, the capabilities are equally impressive. Specialists will be able to service underserved communities. Large healthcare files and information can be shared quickly and seamlessly. Video consults and telemedicine will also be enabled.

In 2023, operating in an educational or healthcare environment is difficult without reliable connectivity. That’s what we’re delivering.

GSR: When will this be available? And what will organizations have to do to gain access to these services?

Michael Martinez: It will become available to our Alaskan customers almost immediately. In fact, in the last year, we’ve deployed LEO satellite services to support a health consortium and three school districts in rural Alaska.

Candidly, there is really nothing that these organizations have to do to get connectivity. Connectivity is offered as a managed service, with capacity and all necessary hardware included. This means they simply need to reach out to SES Space & Defense, and we’ll arrange everything necessary to make high-speed, low-latency connectivity a reality for them.

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One of the regions most hard-hit by the hurricane was Lee County, FL, with some local officials saying it could take upwards of five years to recover from the storm.

Not unlike other large storms and natural disasters, one of the casualties of Hurricane Ian in places like Lee County was the critical infrastructure. Electricity was knocked out for more than 2 million people, and critical communications infrastructure was compromised, as well, making it impossible for some residents to contact their loved ones or reach out for assistance.

Following the storm, a team from SES Space & Defense  joined together with individuals from AWS, SimbaCom, and Help.NGO to bring much-needed communications services and connectivity to those impacted. We recently sat down with G Ramos Carr of SES Space & Defense to discuss what conditions were like on the ground, why satellite communications were needed, and what the team was able to bring to the response and recovery efforts.

Government Satellite Report (GSR): When Hurricane Ian struck, what impact did it have on the terrestrial networks and communications infrastructure in the State of Florida?

G RamosCarr: Hurricane Ian was one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the U.S. While it was technically a Category 4 storm, Hurricane Ian’s incredible strength and high windspeeds almost qualified as a Category 5. Overall, more than 140 miles of area across Florida were damaged.

In many of these damaged areas, there was a significant impact on critical infrastructure – including communications. In some of the counties impacted by the hurricane, we saw cell sites go down for several cellular providers. We also saw numerous aggregation points responsible for providing mobile backhaul for large regional areas impacted due to a lack of electricity or compromised fiber optic cables.

“Any time a disaster strikes or a major emergency occurs, those impacted want to communicate with loved ones. This need to communicate can’t be met when terrestrial networks are down.” -G RamosCarr

This meant that essential communications and connectivity services were not available for citizens. But it also meant that some smaller local and municipal government organizations had no connectivity or communications capabilities. Even with FirstNet available for disaster recovery and response personnel, there was a population of first responders that had no way to communicate with each other or coordinate operations.

GSR: When folks think about disaster response and recovery, they think about rescuing people from flood zones, and providing housing, food, and water. Why is restoring connectivity and communications also a priority in these situations? What capabilities are denied when comms are denied?

G RamosCarr: Any time a disaster strikes or a major emergency occurs, those impacted want to communicate with loved ones. This need to communicate can’t be met when terrestrial networks are down. Worse, this rush to reach out to family and loved ones only taxes and strains existing terrestrial networks. So, the networks that are still working become overloaded and incapable of meeting the demand placed on them.

Then, there are other things that need to be done for people to return to a sense of normalcy and “life as usual.” Insurance companies need to be contacted. Applications for government assistance and services need to be completed and submitted. These are all things that can only be done when there is connectivity.

And that’s just talking about the citizens impacted by the disaster. The first responders and disaster recovery personnel have their own connectivity needs. They need the ability to coordinate operations and activities. They’re often operating in difficult, dangerous environments and need the ability to keep in touch with each other or request help when needed.

Even with emergency cellular services like FirstNet available, there were some disaster and emergency response personnel without connectivity in remote locations following Hurricane Ian. There was one particular location in Lee County with no connectivity or communication services for search and rescue operations that were being conducted from a beachhead command center.

“Together, the team leveraged MEO terminal kits to deploy communications to those that were impacted by the storm.” -G RamosCarr

Operations and missions like these are dangerous enough and become more dangerous when there is no ability to communicate and call for help.

So, while food, shelter, and water are needed in disaster response scenarios, connectivity is imperative.

GSR: SES Space &Defense worked with SimbaCom, AWS, and Help.NGO to leverage MEO satellite connectivity to help in disaster response. What types of services did MEO deliver? What did it enable on the ground in Florida?

G RamosCarr: All three of those organizations played a key role in helping SES Space & Defense bring high-throughput, low-latency Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) connectivity to those that needed it after Hurricane Ian.

SimbaCom’s field service representatives volunteered to help in the relief effort and played a critical role in getting our MEO satellite terminals on location to deliver connectivity.

The AWS Disaster Response Team deployed to the area and used our MEO satellite connectivity as a backbone to provide connectivity. They even provided Amazon Distribution Centers as muster points for the local community, and command centers for our operations. And Help.NGO handled the logistics for the team – ensuring our people had what they needed to operate.

Together, the team leveraged MEO terminal kits to deploy communications to those that were impacted by the storm. Amazon Distribution Centers were given high-throughput connectivity so that those gathered in tents there could have the connectivity they need. Several municipal government buildings, like firehouses, were connected via high-throughput MEO connectivity to enable communications and the coordination of response efforts. We even enabled insurance claims processing for the Florida Department of Financial Services.

But the most impactful utilization our MEO satellite provided was to the beachhead command center in Lee County, where an 85CM terminal was deployed to help fill the communications gap for first responders. In that location, there was no connectivity. We were able to deliver fiber-like connectivity for them that was faster and more capable than even traditional satellite service.

GSR: Why was a NGSO satellite solution important in this use case? What does an NGSO satellite solution – like the O3b MEO satellite constellation – bring to the table that GEO satellites don’t?

G RamosCarr: In some of the emergency shelters and muster points where people were impacted by the storm, there were insurance professionals and government representatives that had satellite connectivity. Often, these individuals were equipped with traditional very small aperture terminals (VSAT) connected to GEO satellite services that were shared via a traditional TDMA network.

“The MEO satellite capacity that we were able to provide has an experience much more similar to fiber connectivity.” -G RamosCarr

Many of them found that they had limited bandwidth. That limited bandwidth was further limited because it was shared by everyone else with a VSAT. The satellite capacity that they were using wasn’t dedicated capacity – so every person with a VSAT was effectively competing for bandwidth and throughput. As a result, communications were impacted and connectivity was slow, spotty, or unreliable.

The MEO satellite capacity that we were able to provide has an experience much more similar to fiber connectivity. When plugged into a local distribution service, users thought they were using the same traditional backhaul used in their homes. They had the ability to access real-time streamlining video, access government and insurance company websites, and even video calls with loved ones. Ultimately, the MEO connectivity provided a seamless experience in the middle of the catastrophe.

It wasn’t long before those insurance professionals and even FEMA personnel were switching to the connectivity provided by our MEO satellite service. It was faster, more reliable, and similar to their traditional home and cellular networks.

GSR: How long did it take to get SES satellite connectivity established in Lee County? Is there special equipment that is needed? Is it a difficult or time-intensive process to get satellite connectivity delivered to an area like this?

G RamosCarr: Obviously, since the equipment wasn’t present on site and ready to be deployed to the location, we had to transport it from where it was stored to the impacted areas in Florida. However, once we were on site, we were able to deliver high-throughput, low-latency connectivity to those that needed it within hours.

Candidly, the largest slowdown that kept us from making a larger impact more immediately was awareness. The local government agencies simply didn’t know that we were on the ground and able to deliver this capability to them. Once they learned that the service was available, we were able to deliver it to them very quickly and efficiently.

In the case of Lee County, we were able to get the 85 CM terminal loaded, brought out to where they were operating, and get service deployed all within a couple of hours.

The post How NGSO Satellite Delivered Needed Comms Following Hurricane Ian appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

In an effort to evaluate and begin tapping into the accelerated innovation coming out of the COMSATCOM industry, NASA has created the Communications Services Project (CSP), an agency initiative that seeks to harness commercial industry’s advances in order to, “…ensure NASA missions have the reliable, secure and continual space communications on which their long-term operations depend.”

NASA recently announced that SES Space and Defense, in partnership with Planet Labs (Planet), will be awarded a Funded Space Act Agreement to support the development and demonstration of near-Earth space relay communication services in support of the agency’s future mission needs.

To learn more about the CSP, why SES Space and Defense was chosen to support the project, as well as how the company’s O3b mPOWER satellite constellation will deliver near-Earth comms capabilities to NASA, the Government Satellite Report recently sat down with Eric Gunzelman, a Senior Director at SES Space and Defense.

Here is what he had to say:

Government Satellite Report (GSR): What is the NASA Communications Services Project? What are they looking to deliver communications and connectivity for?

Eric Gunzelman: NASA’s Communication Services Project (CSP) is primarily focused on pioneering the future of NASA’s near-Earth space communications and evaluating the feasibility of leveraging commercial SATCOM networks to reliably support future NASA missions, particularly through space relay, also known as satellite-to-satellite communications.

NASA has recognized the growth in commercial satellite technology and the maturation of that technology to now handle communications relay through space, as a more efficient, cost-effective alternative to the purpose-built TDRSS that NASA has operated for decades.

TDRSS is a highly capable satellite that sits in Geostationary Orbit (GEO) and provides relay services to NASA science missions at Low Earth Orbit (LEO), with the highest-profile one being the relay mission from the International Space Station (ISS).

Sometimes these LEO satellites are not always in view of the ground station, but NASA investigators still need immediate access to the scientific data collected. TDRSS functions to relay that scientific data to the ground immediately even when the LEO satellite is not in view of an earth station.

For example, Johnson Space Center can communicate to astronauts who may be on the other side of the Earth, via the 24/7 direct communication TDRSS enables.

GSR: Why is NASA looking to replace TDRSS? Why is commercial satellite a viable or preferred candidate to replace TDRSS?

Eric Gunzelman: The main reason is the expense. It costs a lot of money to build your own purpose-built constellation of satellites to cover the globe. NASA believes that the commercial technology marketplace has matured enough to enable reliable space relay capabilities. As a case in point, the commercial imagery industry has matured to the point of providing high-resolution photographs that we have all seen on the national news throughout the Ukraine conflict.

NASA is providing the funding to not only help demonstrate these emerging COMSATCOM relay services, but also the “seed” money to develop the market such that NASA is one of many customers. If they can get CSP off the ground in a cost-share agreement to help create the market – but not be the sole proprietor of the service – then that will be a big win that will save the agency money over continuing to develop and launch a purpose-built TDRSS satellite system.

“O3b and SES have been operating in a mature MEO system since 2014, providing services to the U.S. government since 2016. They have delivered more than 10 gigabytes per second on 41 contracts. That experience and legacy will ensure that NASA is receiving a low-risk, high-payoff capability for space relay.” – Eric Gunzelman

GSR: Will SES Space and Defense be delivering capacity on GEO satellites only, or will it also be leveraging its Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite constellation to deliver service to the CSP?

Eric Gunzelman: We will begin primarily with the hybrid, GEO/MEO concept. The long-term plan is to offer most of our services through MEO, due to its lower latency and higher throughput. However, we can provide services through GEO as well.

GSR: Why is the CSP so important for NASA? How has the agency’s connectivity and communications requirements changed and shifted to make connectivity in LEO so essential?

Eric Gunzelman: Most of NASA’s Earth-observing missions are in LEO because of its closer proximity to the Earth. And a lot of those scientific missions are best served if we can get the data back to the NASA Principal Investigator as soon as the event happens. This helps NASA understand the science as it happens on our planet, and enables NASA to identify any correlation with other events around the globe.

Currently, NASA science missions that operate in polar orbits sometimes need to wait up to 30 minutes to downlink their data to an earth station if they don’t have enough priority to use TDRSS.

GSR: How will delivering MEO capacity via O3b mPOWER better enable NASA missions in LEO? What will this make possible for them? What capabilities will it enable?

Eric Gunzelman: NASA has a handful of mission sets that can be serviced by relay, including launch and early orbit, as well as your standard LEO science missions. With our 50+ GEO satellites and new O3b mPOWER MEO constellation, we can service them without the need of being in view of a NASA ground station. This reduces the long-term costs for NASA, saving budgets on TDRSS procurement and ongoing operations and maintenance, and on the ground infrastructure required to support TDRSS.

“If [NASA] can get CSP off the ground in a cost-share agreement to help create the market – but not be the sole proprietor of the service – then that will be a big win that will save the agency money over continuing to develop and launch a purpose-built TDRSS satellite system.” – Eric Gunzelman

As noted earlier, NASA missions don’t always have access to TDRSS because of other mission priorities (such as manned flights/the ISS). There’s a priority structure. In addition, a market implies many vendors to choose from. So, in theory, NASA could have access to multiple providers so buying a service when they need it and only when they need it should save billions of dollars, averting the cost to build and maintain TDRSS.

In fact, NASA has been working on this effort for nearly a decade now. The Phase One studies showed that COMSATCOM technologies had advanced and matured to consider the market space. In fact, NASA has committed to Congress, as a result of their Phase One studies that they can get off of TDRSS by the early to mid-2030s, with some new missions capable of transitioning much sooner. The final TDRSS will fly out, and they will make use of their services as they can. But the current plan is to transition to commercial for new NASA missions beginning in 2026.

GSR: Why were SES Space and Defense and Planet chosen for this program? What role will SES Space and Defense play? What role will Planet play?

Eric Gunzelman: We were one of six vendors chosen by NASA — we offer the only mature non-GEO satellite system today, that being O3b constellation operating at MEO (8,062 km). This gives us a unique vantage point because we see more of the Earth at any one time than our LEO counterparts but we don’t suffer the high latencies of GEO satellites.

“Most of NASA’s Earth observing missions are in LEO…a lot of those scientific missions are best served if we can get the data back to the NASA Principal Investigator as soon as the event happens.” – Eric Gunzelman

Planet is chosen because they know how to build and launch LEO demonstration satellites with an Earth observation payload — they know how to build small efficient satellites with an earth-based mission (imaging in this case). Planet has launched nearly 200 satellites.

GSR: What is the timeline for the CSP? Is it up and working today? If not, when will it be operational?

Eric Gunzelman: It is a four-year demonstration program that will conclude with an operational service in the late-2025/early-2026 timeframe. Ideally, NASA wants to immediately transition from this demonstration program into operational service.

O3b and SES have been operating in a mature MEO system since 2014, providing services to the U.S. government since 2016. They have delivered more than 10 gigabytes per second on 41 contracts. That experience and legacy will ensure that NASA is receiving a low-risk, high-payoff capability for space relay. We are just moving the terminal from the ground to space, and bringing the connectivity along with it.

To learn more about the agreement between NASA, SES Space and Defense, and Planet click HERE.

The post Moving the Terminal from the Ground to Space – How COMSATCOM Will Enable the NASA Communications Services Project appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

But very few of the technologies that are being embraced by the government and military as a part of their ongoing modernization initiatives have the transformative potential as the Internet of Things (IoT).

For those that aren’t familiar, IoT involves the proliferation and deployment of network-enabled and connected devices and sensors that have the potential to measure and monitor the environment around them. The data that these devices and sensors generate can then be aggregated and analyzed for actionable insights.

What makes IoT so exciting is its ability to shift government agencies from being reactive – identifying problems after they arise and addressing them – to being proactive – identifying red flags and factors that indicate a problem is arising, and taking proactive steps to keep it from becoming an issue.

However, for IoT programs and initiatives to be successful, the devices and sensors need to be connected, so that their important data and findings can be accessed and analyzed in a timely and relevant fashion. With devices and sensors often needed in remote, austere environments, satellite becomes a natural and logical choice for connecting IoT devices at the tactical edge.

One of the companies leading the charge on satellite-enabled IoT initiatives is OQ Technologies, which recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with GovSat to develop and test satellite-based IoT products aimed at defense and government sectors.

We recently sat down with the company’s Founder and CEO, Omar Qaise, to discuss the importance of government IoT initiatives, and learn more about the MOU between OQ Technologies and GovSat.

Here is what he told us:

Government Satellite Report (GSR): Can you tell our readers a bit about OQ Technology? What does the company do? What markets and industries does it service?

Omar Qaise: OQ Technology is the only company in the world that uses standardized 3GPP cellular technology for Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) to connect devices to satellites.  We are taking advantage of market and technology gaps not covered by existing satellite communication, particularly for low-power, low-cost, small messaging IoT devices.

In 2016, 3GPP introduced NB-IoT, making our proposition unrivaled in the satellite world. Based on this standard, OQ has developed algorithms and add-on software to make sure IoT devices can seamlessly switch between terrestrial and satellite connectivity to overcome connectivity issues in remote locations without modifying the cellular standards. As an early result, we won multiple contracts with ESA under the Luxembourg Space Agency national program, LuxImpulse.

The company also has developed a technology that allows it to use the cheaper standard mobile chips for its satellite connectivity, instead of the expensive satellite chip that would have to be installed and used when leaving terrestrial networks.

This unique combination of seamless connectivity using standard mobile chips at a fraction of the cost makes it ideal for applications in industries such as oil, gas, logistics, mining, and defense. Particularly in rural and remote areas such as Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas, where infrastructure is lacking.

GSR: How pervasive are IoT initiatives across world governments today?

Omar Qaise: Local authorities all over the world are facing growing pressures from their government to achieve targets on climate change, improve social care and overhaul waste management – all with budgets squeezed tighter than ever. As a result, we have seen great interest by local governments in IoT technology solutions to help meet their budget and social goals, achieving scale by addressing multiple use cases at once.

There are various ways in which the Internet of things is being used in governance including healthcare, education, smart infrastructure, remote oversight of transport and agricultural systems, and disaster management. Fortune Business Insights reckons that the global IoT in smart cities market alone will grow fivefold, reaching USD 582.38 billion by 2028, up from USD 110.56 billion in 2020.

GSR: What are some of the different ways governments can utilize IoT sensors and solutions to better accomplish their missions?

Omar Qaise: Through IoT devices and a low-latency or real-time connectivity network, the government can monitor, map and analyze at scale. Take healthcare, for example, where the use of the IoT allows to flag any issues earlier and prevent the escalation of problems while the individual is at home.

The push towards smart lighting in cities will use low-power IoT networks to connect the lights, which will be undertaken on a huge scale. Councils will be able to switch on and off certain sections of the lighting estate depending on the activity, which in turn reduces energy consumption. To do this, streetlights need smart controllers that receive and transmit wireless signals to the lighting unit.

Military users such as the U.S. Department of Defense are making strides to expand 5G research and ultimately, deployment. They are expecting benefits of 5G in battlefield environments among other uses. In October 2020, the DoD awarded contracts totaling $600 million to perform testing and evaluation of 5G technologies at five military installations across the country.

Connected devices would allow the efficient tracking and management of military assets, giving real-time visibility of stock and supply and the means to forecast which products are in demand or excess. Being able to receive speed and motor status, overall engine times, and fuel economy for vehicles with embedded sensors would improve fleet management. Information that would be difficult to come by without the IoT.

“Local authorities all over the world are facing growing pressures from their government to achieve targets on climate change, improve social care and overhaul waste management – all with budgets squeezed tighter than ever.” – Omar Qaise

Sensors attached to a soldier’s clothing can enable proactive health surveillance and provide crucial and timely insights of remote battlefields, allowing officers to make better-informed decisions.

The gathered data from battlefield situations would allow us to improve the augmented reality for remote training programs. Together with artificial intelligence, connected devices can also improve the accuracy for autonomous reconnaissance and recognizing targets.

It’s not limited to land-based devices either. Military use cases include communications with drones, mine detection, harbor protection, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV), networks of underwater robots, submarines communicating with a land-based command post, as well as drone attack detection and warning system on borders. Even search-and-rescue has potential; there’s almost no limit to possible applications.

GSR: What role does satellite play in government IoT initiatives? Why would satellite connectivity be necessary to enable government IoT programs?

Omar Qaise: 5G is a core technology upon which modern societies, their economies, and their militaries will rest. It will be crucial to how industries compete and generate value, how people communicate and interact, and how militaries pursue security for their citizens.

While the utility of satellite communications is somewhat limited within cities and in city-to-city communications, where fiber and WIFI are readily available, integrating satellite and terrestrial systems will be necessary to meet the full spectrum of future demands likely to be placed on 5G networks. These include increasing traffic and number of connections outside of dense city centers in more rural and remote areas with the proliferation of IoT devices, providing coverage for devices on the move such as a ship at sea or a truck or car driving across the country.

Nearly half of the world’s population lives outside urban areas where affordable and high-quality Internet to the home or 5G mobile networks via a terrestrial network may not be available. Mobile network operators face huge pressure to provide ubiquitous coverage with less investments. Especially, after a two-year period that saw the terrestrial roll-out of 5G fall behind schedule.

“Connected devices would allow the efficient tracking and management of military assets, giving real-time visibility of stock and supply and the means to forecast which products are in demand or excess.” – Omar Qaise

Satellite-based connectivity also functions as a backup to provide necessary resiliency. For governments, the high availability of 5G networks during natural or manmade disasters demands that there be redundant connectivity paths employing alternate technologies when the primary terrestrial link fails.

GSR: OQ Technology recently signed an MoU with GovSat. What does this MoU do? What will the two companies be developing together as a result? 

Omar Qaise: OQ Technology, together with GovSat, will collaborate on developing and testing satellite-based IoT and machine-to-machine (M2M) products aimed at defense and government sectors.

OQ Technology will modify its user terminals from S-band to operate on higher X-band frequency, used for the military. Tests will be performed to demonstrate the link over a Lux GovSat GEO satellite. This means special defense IoT use cases can benefit from OQ’s 5G IoT solution.

GSR: Why was GovSat a good choice to partner with OQ Technology for this MoU? What does GovSat bring to the table?

Omar Qaise: Getting access to the government – and more so to the defense sector – can be difficult. Partnering with GovSat, a specialized GEO operator, seemed the perfect solution to provide 5G IoT and machine communication to critical SATCOM applications in these sectors. They have the know-how and experience of delivering secure, non-preemptible, reliable, and accessible satellite communication services to customers such as NATO, the UK Ministry of Defense (MOD), and the Belgium Navy.

Through GovSat, OQ Technology will be able to access its satellite capacity. GovSat will also support us through their satellite hub infrastructure and by providing uplink services.

“Through IoT devices and a low-latency or real-time connectivity network, the government can monitor, map and analyze at scale.” – Omar Qaise

I believe that by combining OQ Technology’s 5G products and services with GovSat’s end-to-end SATCOM solutions, we can offer highly scalable applications for air, land, and maritime missions globally. 

GSR: What about the GovSat X-band and Mil Ka-band coverage makes it ideal for sensitive government and military applications? 

Omar Qaise: GovSat’s coverage is critical for government customers and NATO operations. Its reach spreads Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South West Asia with maritime coverage for the Atlantic, Baltic, Mediterranean, and Indian Oceans.

Their high-powered fully-steerable spot beams in X- and Military Ka-Band, and a global X-Band beam, in addition to a secure service hub, assure secure operations and resilient SATCOM capabilities.

GSR: When development is done, and OQ Technology terminals work with the GovSat GEO satellite service, what will it enable existing GovSat customers to do that they can’t do today? What will it enable for existing OQ Technology government customers?

Omar Qaise: Our customers will receive real-time 5G IoT and machine communication for critical SATCOM applications. For that, OQ Technology will provide user terminals, satellite hub equipment, and remote management capabilities.

The company will also re-design its satellite IoT user terminal to fit the GovSat frequency band, and it’ll upgrade the antenna of its user terminal. 

To learn more about the MOU between GovSat and OQ Technology, click HERE.

The post OQ Technology discusses the role of satellite in government IoT initiatives appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

As the Chief Operations Officer, Lt Gen Saltzman has overall responsibility for operations, intelligence, sustainment, cyber, and nuclear operations of the U.S. Space Force. Prior to his current role, he most recently served as the Deputy Commander of the U.S. Air Force’s Central Command, and Deputy Combined Force Air Component Commander of U.S. Central Command, Southwest Asia.

During the event, Lt Gen Saltzman reflected on the Space Force’s second year accomplishments, examined how the U.S. should address current adversarial efforts in the space domain, and discussed why the U.S. government must begin leveraging commercial satellite architectures and capabilities for its military missions.

Two years of accomplishments

On December 20, 2021, the U.S. Space Force celebrated its second birthday, and to begin the forum, Lt Gen Saltzman opened with an enthusiastic discussion about the major accomplishments Space Force made in its two years of operations.

He prefaced the discussion by setting the stage and reminding the audience that 2021 witnessed a lot of adversarial activity in the space domain. He explained that U.S. adversaries took worryingly bold actions in space this past year, specifically referring to Russia’s testing of anti-satellite (ASAT) missiles and China’s hypersonic missile test. “These are dynamic times in the space security environment, so we need the Space Force to be going fast,” said Saltzman.

And, indeed, 2021 was a fast-growing year for Space Force, beginning with its intelligence directorate’s induction as the 18^th member of the intelligence community (IC).

“Leah Lauderback is the head of our intelligence community apparatus here and she’s just doing a fantastic job,” said Lt Gen Saltzman. “And the level of support that I’m able to give to the Pentagon based on that foundational intelligence that’s focused on space threats has just been remarkable.”

Lt Gen Saltzman also highlighted that in 2021 the Secretary of the U.S. Air Force signed an organizational change request, establishing the first service components of the Space Force’s combatant commands in Europe, the Pacific, the Middle East, and South Korea.

Last year, Space Force also laid down the groundwork for nearly 700 interservice transfers, which Saltzman said is much more challenging than one would assume. “While you think they just raise their hand, swear the oath to the Space Force, and change uniforms, as you all know it’s a little more complicated than that.” Lt Gen Saltzman explained that ensuring seamless interservice transitions that don’t create any adverse effects on new Guardians has been a lot of work, which he is extremely proud of.

This growth and the major accomplishments couldn’t come at a better time, as America’s adversaries become increasingly active and bold in space.

Deterring the adversary

During the discussion, Lt Gen Saltzman highlighted some of the recent adversarial efforts that occurred in the space domain in 2021, specifically Russia’s successful ASAT missile test and the implications the test has on the country’s space posture.

Lt Gen Saltzman declared that the ASAT test was an extremely “irresponsible” and “hazardous” act, and that the space debris that resulted from Russia destroying its defunct, Soviet-era satellite will pose kinetic threats for years to come.

“We are now spending a tremendous amount of our time, energy, and capacity to characterize the nature of that debris field,” explained Lt Gen Saltzman. “Because at a minimum, we know that it poses a hazard to the astronauts on the ISS. And it’s one of our basic responsibilities to make sure that we characterize all of the objects that are on orbit, to protect not just humankind up there on the ISS, but all of these very expensive, exquisite satellites that we spend blood, sweat, tears, energy, and national treasure to put into orbit and perform some remarkable services for us.”

In order to establish stability and a framework of accountability in the domain, Lt Gen Saltzman referred to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s tenants on responsible behavior in space as one of the gold standards that should be followed in order to deter this type of dangerous behavior.

“If it’s the Wild Wild West out there in space, then it’s hard to hold people responsible for any kind of behavior, because you haven’t really defined what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable,” explained Saltzman. “I don’t think we should underestimate how important setting the framework for what responsible behavior in space looks like.”

Lt Gen Saltzman explained that another component of deterrence would be ensuring that the U.S. has the capability and the capacity from the ground – and space – to rapidly characterize new space debris fields.

“Although this one was an ASAT test, there are other times when two objects just run into each other and create debris field,” explained Lt Gen Saltzman. “Debris generating events can occur by accident as much as it can occur deliberately. And we have to have that capacity to rapidly characterize, figure out where those orbits are, and then start doing projections about potential hazards those new objects that are created on orbit could cause to manned spaceflight, as well as other capabilities.”

Leveraging commercial space

When it pertains to the capabilities that the U.S. Space Force will need in the future, Lt Gen Saltzman explained that satellite architecture currently in space is not prepared and readied for combat capability and capacity.

“The architecture that we have was largely designed for a benign environment,” said Lt Gen Saltzman. “And we just didn’t talk about combat attributes or combat attrition. We didn’t talk about the kinds of adversarial behavior that we would have to account for with the Force design.”

Lt Gen Saltzman explained that the original goal of the U.S.’ current space and satellite architecture was originally focused on “getting the most out of the capabilities as possible,” not on being able to support a warfighting architecture.

According to Lt Gen Saltzman, in order to get the warfighting capabilities necessary to protect U.S. assets from space, there must be a shift in how the U.S. military acquires the required capabilities and functions. And one solution that he believes could help remedy this problem is the commercial space industry.

Lt Gen Saltzman explained that there is currently a commercial space boom happening around the world, and that the U.S. government needs to take more advantage of the services and capabilities industry can provide to the military.

“With the technology that’s being employed, I think we’re going to be able to leverage commercial capabilities to accomplish a subset of our missions,” explained Lt Gen Saltzman. “And as we distribute those up, not only does it free up resources for us, but it creates a more resilient architecture because of the number of different places and pathways where we can get the information we need.”

Lt Gen Saltzman explained that when it comes to the grand design of the Space Force, it’s not just what the branch builds, but also what the branch buys to ensure it has the necessary resources at the right time and space. And Lt Gen Saltzman did admit that it may take time to flesh out all these aspects of the Force’s design.

“Some of these things take a while to get on orbit and put in place,” said Lt Gen Saltzman. “But, you know, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. That’s the path of the journey we’re on.”

Click the video below to watch the Spacepower Forum in its entirety.

The post Happy birthday, Space Force! Lt Gen B. Chance Saltzman reflects on the branch’s second year in operation appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

Understanding that cloud customers will rely on satellite to access their cloud services and cloud-native applications in geographically remote and isolated areas, Microsoft recently launched Azure Space, and announced a number of innovative partnerships with satellite providers, such as SES Space and Defense. They also introduced Azure Orbital and the Azure Modular Data Center, which are designed to help make cloud connectivity at the tactical edge easier for government cloud users.

In the second part of our illuminating interview with Steve, we set out to learn more about these exciting announcements from Azure Space. We also discussed how innovations in the space and satellite industry are opening the door for the ubiquitous, global connectivity necessary to power government cloud and digital transformation initiatives.

Government Satellite Report (GSR): While our readers are undoubtedly familiar with Microsoft Azure, they may not be as familiar with Azure Space, which I understand is a relatively new entity. Can you tell our readers a bit more about Azure Space and its mission?

Steve Kitay: Microsoft publicly launched Azure Space a year ago, although we’ve been working on standing it up for more than two years. The mission of Azure Space is bringing the cloud and space together to empower our customers both on and off the planet.

Our approach to Azure Space is through partnerships and enabling an ecosystem. Microsoft isn’t building and launching its own satellites, but rather partnering with others that do to provide connectivity solutions both to space systems, and anywhere on earth.

We also have cutting-edge AI and machine learning (ML) algorithms to drive insights from the data coming from space. We are also supporting the developer community with unique simulation and digital engineering capabilities. And lastly, while we’re not building or launching our own satellites, we’re bringing our innovation into space.

For example, HP has a computer on the ISS called the Spaceborne computer that we’ve connected to the hyperscale cloud to enable researchers and astronauts to do more. There are a variety of innovation areas that we’re exploring and working on both on and off the planet.

GSR: What is Microsoft Azure Orbital? What does it enable government cloud users to do?

Steve Kitay: Azure Orbital is a fully managed, cloud-based ground station as a service that allows users to communicate with their satellite constellation. This allows them to download data, uplink commands, and process data in the cloud. It also enables Azure services to be deployed to generate products for their customers.

“Governments worldwide are looking for these kinds of connectivity solutions to meet their needs. What we’re doing with SES is bringing the connectivity and compute together so that they’re not just moving the data, but they’re deriving insights and understanding from that data.” – Steve Kitay

Ultimately, it provides modern ground segment technologies, allowing satellite operators to focus on their space mission and product, offloading the responsibility of deployment and maintenance of ground station assets.

The system that we’ve built out is on top of Azure’s global infrastructure and low-latency global fiber networks. The capability of Azure Orbital is building upon a partner ecosystem that includes KSAT, ViaSat, Kratos, Emergent Space Technologies, and several others.

GSR: What about the Microsoft Modular Data Center (MDC)? What is the MDC and what does it do? How is it different from other data centers? What can it enable for government cloud users?

Steve Kitay: We have a suite of edge capabilities, and the MDC is one of them. The MDC and our other edge devices enable the use of Azure from anywhere in the world.

MDC gives customers the capability to deploy a modular data center to remote locations, or to augment existing infrastructure. A major differentiator for the MDC is that customers can run the unit with full network connectivity, or in situations where it’s occasionally connected or even fully disconnected.

“Microsoft isn’t building and launching its own satellites, but rather partnering with others that do to provide connectivity solutions both to space systems, and anywhere on earth.” – Steve Kitay

We have also built in an ability to have satellite connectivity with SES, and other providers, to enable the data center to be connected back to the hyperscale cloud.

GSR: In a recent press release, it was announced that Microsoft would leverage the SES multi-orbit satellite system to give government entities to cloud resources practically anywhere on the globe. Why is a multi-orbit satellite solution ideal for this? What advantages does a multi-orbit constellation or service have over one that is in a single, dedicated orbit?

Steve Kitay: SES is a close partner of Microsoft, and their multi-orbit satellite constellation allows us to better service our customers.

By enabling our customers to access different satellite services at different orbits, we’re giving them the choice and flexibility to choose the right satellite service for their needs and requirements.

Satellite services from different orbits have different advantages, and different satellite services may be optimal for a particular customer’s needs and requirements. By enabling access to multiple options, Microsoft ensures that they have different options they need to meet their needs in regard to pricing, bandwidth, capacity, latency and other factors.

“Azure Orbital is a fully managed, cloud-based ground station as a service that allows users to communicate with their satellite constellation. This allows them to download data, uplink commands, and process data in the cloud.” – Steve Kitay

Our approach brings together partnerships and products to create a comprehensive and resilient satellite tool and solutions that meet the needs of our customers.

GSR: SES is on the precipice of launching a new satellite service – SES O3b mPOWER. What will this new service mean for government and military cloud users? How can it change what is currently possible at the tactical edge?

Steve Kitay: O3b mPOWER is a satellite constellation that we’re specifically partnering with and that they’re leveraging Azure Orbital for ground infrastructure. It’s a Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite service that delivers a tremendous increase in flexibility and throughput speed, and cloud-scale capacity to Azure locations across the Earth. And, ultimately, what that means for customers is that fiber-equivalent connectivity will now be available wherever users are located – including in the air, at sea, or on the ground in remote sites in geographically-isolated regions.

O3b mPOWER is delivering secure and resilient network architecture for robust connectivity whether the mission is establishing a secure network at a tactical edge or deploying a UAV for live HD video along a border. Governments worldwide are looking for these kinds of connectivity solutions to meet their needs. What we’re doing with SES is bringing the connectivity and compute together so that they’re not just moving the data, but they’re deriving insights and understanding from that data.

For additional information about how Ob3 mPOWER can enable next-generation technologies on the battlefield, click HERE to download a complimentary copy of the whitepaper, “High Throughput Satellites for U.S. Government Applications.”

The post Steve Kitay of Microsoft Azure Space on the increasing integration between space and the cloud appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

These solutions included managed satellite services that deliver an end-to-end network that is faster and easier to deploy for military and government organizations. They also included a new generation of turnkey mobile satellite solutions that can be easily moved where needed and utilized to deliver a large area of high-throughput, low-latency connectivity to those that need it via 5G or WiFi.

And while these solutions sound exciting in their ability to make satellite more accessible and easy to use for government and military organizations, we wanted to learn more about how they could make a difference in specific government use cases. In particular, we wanted to learn how a common scenario where satellite is often necessary – emergency and disaster response and recovery operations – could benefit from these new technologies.

To get a window into the ways these new satellite services and solutions could transform emergency and disaster response efforts and operations, we sat down for an in-depth discussion with Rashid Neighbors, who is the Vice President of Mobility and Integrated Solutions at ‎SES Space and Defense. During our discussion, we asked Rashid about how each of these solutions could be used in emergency response, what makes them different, and how they could effectively work together to transform the way the government communicates and operates in emergencies.

Here is what he said:

Government Satellite Report (GSR): There’s a long-held belief that satellite isn’t user-friendly. That rolling out satellite communications in emergencies isn’t seamless or possible at the speed necessary for emergency response. How is the satellite industry working to change this? What’s already been done?

Rashid Neighbors: No one ever wants to be in a situation where they have to use satellite communications because a natural disaster has destroyed terrestrial communications infrastructure. However, SATCOM is best suited to quickly provide connectivity in these sorts of scenarios.

We know that these scenarios require communications that are reliable, easy to use, and quickly deployable. So, the satellite industry has worked aggressively to tailor our solutions, make them more user friendly and eliminate a lot of the expensive hardware necessary to utilize SATCOM. One of the ways we’re doing this is by introducing managed services and new solutions that deliver the full end-user experience. This ensures that satellite services are there to meet mission-critical communications requirements in all situations.

GSR: Some of your associates at SES Space and Defense have recently contributed articles to the Government Satellite Report about some exciting new technologies and solutions that appear to be making satellite service more scalable, flexible, user-friendly and affordable. Included in that were the SKALA Global Network and new “Roll-On, Roll-Off” mobile satellite solutions. Let’s start with SKALA. How can the SKALA Global Network be used in emergency and disaster response scenarios?

Rashid Neighbors: In emergency response situations, SKALA is an excellent solution for keeping individual first responders and tactical operators connected with cost-effective terminals and hardware to utilize it. These off-the-shelf commercial solutions can be deployed quickly and inexpensively to meet the basic communications requirements of responders in the field.

In fact, an inexpensive fixed antenna on a non-pen mount that people in the industry often refer to as a “leave behind antenna” because of its low price point and mobility is all that’s really necessary to access the SKALA Global Network. And those antennas are excellent in wildfires and other natural disaster scenarios. They can be deployed quickly and easily and communications can be established in very short fashion. The lower price point of these antennas also means that local and federal government organizations and emergency response organizations could even preposition some of the equipment across the country to help further accelerate response.

“Think about the tactical operators responding to a hurricane that knocked out cellular networks…SKALA is an affordable, quickly-deployed solution to get those individuals the basic connectivity and communications services they need to save lives and safely do their jobs.” – Rashid Neighbors

Using the SKALA Global Network and these “leave behind antennas,” government organizations could deliver moderate throughput communications capabilities such as email, voice, access to situational awareness and mapping applications, and other services enabled by basic connectivity. This makes the service very cost-effective, while still delivering everything the first responder needs in the field to stay connected.

GSR: What about these “Roll-On, Roll-Off” mobile satellite solutions? Why would they be an exciting solution for emergency and disaster relief initiatives? What kinds of capabilities could that enable?

Rashid Neighbors: Our new, turnkey mobile connectivity solution set is extremely exciting for a number of reasons. They’re entirely integrated, self-contained and weather-proof solutions that are designed to work with our O3b MEO satellite network. The O3b MEO satellite constellation orbits at 5,000 miles versus 22,000 miles for traditional GEO satellites, which enables it to not only offer incredibly high throughputs, but do so with very low latency.

Combining O3b MEO satellite service with these new “Roll-On, Roll-Off” mobile connectivity options means that high-throughput, low latency connectivity can be delivered to practically any scenario and environment. These solutions are easily airlifted – or moved by forklift or crane – to where they’re needed. Once power is supplied, they begin providing an area of connectivity via 5G or WiFi, whether they’re on a ship at sea or on land.

So, how does this translate to a natural disaster or emergency situation? When disaster strikes, emergency response organizations come onsite and work to establish a center of operations where they can manage the situation, monitor tactical operators, provide care and services to impacted residents and perform other operations. If we airlift or trailer this mobile connectivity solution to this center of operations, we can deliver high-throughput, low-latency, broadband-like connectivity for the entire area to help support those operations and provide communications for the individuals close by.

This solution delivers so much capacity and bandwidth that the capabilities are basically limitless.

Individuals responsible for managing and directing response and rescue efforts could use it to access and monitor real-time, HD video feeds from drones and other sensors. They can use it to download large reports with images and maps. They can use the connectivity to aggregate and analyze an incredible amount of data. Field hospitals could use it to access and transmit medical histories and imagery. They could even use it to deliver telemedicine services into the field for victims of disasters.

GSR: How are these two solutions different? If you were an organization responsible for emergency and disaster response, why would you choose one over the other? Are there cost considerations? Hardware considerations? Differences in capabilities?

Rashid Neighbors: The major difference between the two solutions is the amount of throughput that they deliver. The SKALA Mobile Network is a solution that can be accessed with hardware that has an incredibly small footprint and that can deliver connectivity to the very edge – the tactical operator out in the field conducting search and rescue operations and other disaster response operations.

These individuals – forward operators – don’t require the immense capacity of the “Roll-On, Roll-Off” mobile connectivity solution. Instead, they require mission-critical, basic communications services in locations and scenarios where they have no other option because other networks are not available.

“All of these organizations and agencies are embracing digital transformation initiatives, network-enabled platforms, and applications to improve their operations. Solutions like SKALA and the “Roll-On, Roll-Off” mobile connectivity solution are just extending access to those solutions out to the tactical edge…” – Rashid Neighbors

Think about the tactical operators responding to a hurricane that knocked out cellular networks. Or the crew responding to a fire in a national forest where cell towers were never constructed. SKALA is an affordable, quickly-deployed solution to get those individuals the basic connectivity and communications services they need to save lives and safely do their jobs.

The “Roll-On, Roll-Off” mobile connectivity solution is a larger footprint solution that delivers much higher throughputs and capacity. If SKALA is capable of connecting the forward operators, the “Roll-On, Roll-Off” mobile connectivity solution would be used to deliver mission-critical connectivity to the command center.

Together, they can ensure that every individual and organization responsible for a coordinated, effective emergency response operation has access to the communications services that they need, when and where they need them.

GSR: How would the use of these solutions be better than what emergency and first responders are working with today? What additional capabilities would it give them? What other benefits would it enable?

Rashid Neighbors: Imagine a hurricane hits a large, well-populated region – or even an island – within the United States. This hurricane knocks out all communications infrastructure and terrestrial networks, so there’s no existing communications for first responders and the emergency response and relief agencies and organizations – agencies like FEMA – to use to stay connected and coordinated when they get boots on the ground.

In the past, the tactical operators and forward operators going out into the disaster-impacted areas to look for survivors and deliver aid to local residents would be resigned to just line-of-sight radio communications. This would enable them to have voice communications with those close by, but they wouldn’t have the reach-back connectivity needed to interact with the people that support them.

The agencies establishing command centers and base camps would also lack communications, hindering their ability to gather intelligence on the situation and have complete situational awareness. Agencies like FEMA – which functions to file claims and deliver economic relief and assistance to victims of natural disasters – would often revert to paper forms. This would drastically slow down the claims process.

Now, think about the same disaster response situation with the SKALA Global Network and the “Roll-On, Roll-Off” mobile connectivity solution in place.

The command center where operations were planned and monitored could have high-throughput, low-latency connectivity to support all of its operations. Forward, tactical operators could have basic communications services that not only allow them to stay connected with other emergency responders in the field, but to report back and communicate with the people that are providing them with support and managing operations.

Finally, an agency like FEMA could be using connected tablets and other ruggedized mobile devices to gather claims information and file claims. This would eliminate errors and lost claims information, while also expediting the process.

All of these organizations and agencies are embracing digital transformation initiatives, network-enabled platforms, and applications to improve their operations. Solutions like SKALA and the “Roll-On, Roll-Off” mobile connectivity solution are just extending access to those solutions out to the tactical edge – to the places where terrestrial networks either never existed, or no longer are available.

To learn more about the role that satellite solutions can play in emergency preparedness and disaster response, click HERE to download a complimentary copy of the whitepaper, ‘Emergency Response From Space.”

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